China and Russia are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with France and Britain, that took part in the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal preliminary framework agreement. Trump withdrew America from the accord in 2018, setting in motion years of tensions in the wider Middle East.

Though it harbours deep mistrust of the United States, and President Donald Trump in particular, Tehran is increasingly concerned that mounting public anger over economic hardships could erupt into mass protests,